RL_Taekwondo

English Taekwon-do Schools Championships
April 22nd, 2001

-- REPORT --

Students from Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy competed in the `English Taekwon-do Schools Championships on the 22nd April. The tournament consisted of both sparring & patterns and students won medals in both areas.

Unusually, first up were the black belt divisions. The Academy's instructor, Mr Stuart Anslow competed in the 2nd & 3rd Dan section and won 2nd place. This followed straight away with the black belt sparring section. The Academy's instructor was up first; he had a tough fight but managed to scoop the victory. Next up was Academy black belt Farhad Ahmad, another tough fight ensued, with Farhad attaining victory after letting loose some furiously fast kicking techniques. In the next round, Mr Anslow faced an old foe from Wembley TKD in the form of Vikrum Gutam. A great display of techniques took place with the outcome being that Mr Anslow attained victory again, leaving him to face his own student in the final. A good final was fought ending up with Farhad having to settle for silver & his instructor claiming the gold.

Next the coloured belt patterns took place. Parvez Sultan took the gold in the adult green belt division & Zoe Bennett took the gold in the junior blue belt division after some fantastic technical displays in these large divisions. Toni Bennett put in a fine patterns performance to take the bronze medal in the junior blue belts as well.

Once the patterns section was completed it was onto the sparring. Again students gave some fine performances. Lloyd Lewis fought numerous opponents to win the gold in the junior green belts (mid) division. Ade Odunaiya fought bravely with a sprained wrist, culminating in an exciting final which left Ade having to settle for silver. In the junior blue belt division Toni Bennett fought hard to claim her second medal of the day, picking up the bronze medal.

In an unusual twist to the day, a poorly populated ladies yellow belt division left Lyndsey Reynolds with no opponent to fight. The organisers offered her a choice of either claiming the gold, as she was the only one in that division or fighting in the male section. Lyndsey, being the person that she is didn't take the easy route to victory & chose to fight with the men. Some interesting bouts ensued. Her first opponent was a lady from the white belt section who had no opponent either. Lyndsey show superiority & won this bout. Her second fight was against a male yellow belt & although it was a hard fight, Lyndsey was the superior fighter & claimed the win. In her next fight she wasn't so lucky & after a close fight it went the opposite way, leaving her a final fight-off for the bronze medal position. This fight was against a very technical Korean exponent of the art & was very intense. Lyndsey took a hard body shot & was severely winded, but after being checked out by the medics Lyndsey continued. Time was called & everyone anxiously waited for the decision. It went to Lyndsey & she claimed the bronze.

Dev Patel also put in some good performances in both patterns & sparring & was unlucky not to claim a medal. Parvez Sultan had some good sparring matches, just losing out in the semi finals to another Korean exponent. Mohamed Hashim fought bravely through two bouts and although he displayed some good sparring techniques he unluckily went out before attaining a position.

All in all it was a good day. Ten students entered & they brought back ten medals.